Georgia Department of Education
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Curriculum/Instruction and Assessment Monthly Updates – December 12, 2014
All documents and the recorded webinar file will be posted on the Curriculum and Instruction webpage.
Please look on the right side at the bottom of the page under CIA Newsletter.
Curriculum and Instruction webpage link:
If you need assistance please contact:
Randall N. Lee (rlee@doe.k12.ga.us)
(404) 656-0476
No Webinar for December
Next Webinar is Tentatively Scheduled For
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (CIA) Monthly Update
December 12, 2014
Contacts: Pam Smith, Director (pamsmith@doe.k12.ga.us) or (404) 463-4141
Randall N. Lee, Program Specialist (rlee@doe.k12.ga.us) or (404) 656-0476
Table of Contents
Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment Cover Sheet
Table of Contents
State Board of Education Meeting Updates
Common Core GPS
Career, Technical & Agricultural Education (CTAE)
English Language Arts
ESOL
Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
Georgia Virtual School
Gifted Education
Health & Physical Education
Home School
JROTC
Library/Media
Mathematics
Math Science Partnership (MSP)
Migrant
Science
Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM)
Social Studies
Special Education
World Languages and International Education
Alternative Education
Assessment
ACCEL
College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI)
College Readiness
Dual Enrollment & Move On When Ready (MOWR)
Early Intervention Program (EIP)
Jimmy Carter NHS Education Program
Learning Resources/Textbooks
Response to Intervention (RTI) and SST
Safe and Drug Free Schools
School Counselors
Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS)
Striving Readers Grant – Literacy
Announcements
State Board of Education Meeting Updates
Contact: Pam Smith (pamsmith@doe.k12.ga.us)
SUBJECT: Proposed English Language Arts and Mathematics Standards
As you may know, the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics have been revised based on a formal review and evaluation process as directed by an Executive Order from the Governor. The review and evaluation process included several survey opportunities as well as legislative and Georgia State Board of Education listening sessions. Survey feedback was collected and analyzed by the University System of Georgia. The University System of Georgia provided survey results and recommendations for revisions to the standards to the State Board of Education on September 24, 2014.
A Working Committee representing K-12 Georgia public school teachers, post-secondary staff, parents, and instructional leaders from across the state made revisions to the standards based on public feedback and recommendations from survey results for standards with less than 90% approval. ELA and Mathematics Advisory Committees then reviewed the recommended changes made by the Working Committees and provided additional suggestions for clarity and change based on feedback and survey recommendations. Business and Industry partners that include the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, Georgia Public Broadcasting, and Georgia Power have been involved in the review and evaluation process. An Academic Review Committee consisting of representatives from the writing and advisory committees; the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement; and the Georgia Department of Education leadership staff reviewed and finalized the draft revised standards for presentation to the State Board of Education for permission to post for 60 days of public review and comment.
Note: There were some recommendations made by survey respondents that committee members felt would be more appropriate for inclusion in the Teacher Guidance documents developed by the Georgia Department of Education for each grade/course and subject. Other recommendations to be emphasized in Guidance and Professional Learning include: phonics instruction, cursive writing, literature and informational text, traditional computing methods, and the memorization of addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts.
The survey will be posted for 60 days of public review and comment from November 12, 2014, through January 10, 2015. The draft revised standards and public feedback will be presented to the Georgia State Board of Education on January 15, 2015, for approval.
Use the following link for access to the revised ELA and Mathematics Standards and surveys for feedback. Please forward this information to your teachers, administrators, and stakeholders.
Thank you in advance for your review and feedback.
Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS)
Contact: Pam Smith (pamsmith@doe.k12.ga.us)
Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE)
Contact: CTAE Director, David Turner (dturner@doe.k12.ga.us)
Farewell to the CTAE State Director
Starting January 2014, the CTAE State Director, David Turner will begin his new position as Principal of Towns County Middle School in Hiawassee, Georgia. Georgia CTAE will definitely miss the leadership and support that David has demonstrated over the past three years, but good wishes follow him as he takes on this new role as middle school principal.
New CTAE Courses
At the December 2014 State Board Meeting, the following CTAE courses were approved for adoption and will be ready for implementation in Fall 2015:
Manufacturing Career Cluster
Occupational Safety of Granite
Introduction to Granite
Applications in Granite Industry
Arts, Audio-Video Technology and Communications Career Cluster
Introduction to Digital Media
Principles and Concepts of Animation
Advanced Animation and Game and App Design
Animation Practicum-Capstone
Also, at the December 2014 State Board Meeting, the following CTAE courses were approved for 60 days of posting for public review:
Information Technology Career Cluster
Introduction to Cybersecurity
Advanced Cybersecurity
2nd Annual CTAE Teacher and Leader Job Fair – March 7, 2015
Mark your calendars for the 2nd Annual CTAE Teacher and Leader Job Fair scheduled for Saturday, March 7, 2015, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm at the Hutchings Career Center, 2011 Riverside Drive, Macon, Georgia. This event is sponsored by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission and the Georgia Department of Education/CTAE Division. Registration for the event will be conducted through the website.
English Language Arts (ELA)
Contact: Carolyn Waters (cwaters@doe.k12.ga.us) or 404-463-1933
Stephanie Sanders (ssanders@doe.k12.ga.us) or 404-657-9811
The State of ELA Standards in Georgia:
Please make sure all English and math teachers are aware of the following information, and ask them to complete the Survey referenced at the end. That way, teachers can directly impact the SBOE’s final decision on the revised standards. This information is posted at the following website:
|Proposed Revisions to English Language Arts and Mathematics Standards |
|The Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics have been revised based on a formal review and evaluation |
|process as directed by an Executive Order from the Governor. The review and evaluation process included several survey opportunities as well as legislative and |
|Georgia State Board of Education listening sessions. Survey feedback was collected and analyzed by the University System of Georgia. The University System of |
|Georgia provided survey results and recommendations for revisions to the standards to the State Board of Education on September 24, 2014. A Working Committee |
|representing K-12 Georgia public school teachers, post-secondary staff, parents, and instructional leaders from across the state made revisions to the standards|
|based on public feedback and recommendations from survey results for standards with less than 90% approval. ELA and Mathematics Advisory Committees then |
|reviewed the recommended changes made by the Working Committees and provided additional suggestions for clarity and change based on feedback and survey |
|recommendations. Business and Industry partners that include the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Partnership for |
|Excellence in Education, Georgia Public Broadcasting, and Georgia Power have been involved in the review and evaluation process. An Academic Review Committee |
|consisting of representatives from the working and advisory committees, the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, and the Georgia Department of Education |
|leadership staff reviewed and finalized the draft revised standards for presentation to the State Board of Education for permission to post for 60 days of |
|public review and comment. |
|Note: There were some recommendations made by survey respondents that committee members felt would be more appropriate for inclusion in the Teacher Guidance |
|documents developed by the Georgia Department of Education for each grade/course and subject. Other recommendations to be emphasized in Guidance and |
|Professional Learning include phonics instruction, cursive writing, literature and informational text, traditional computing methods, and the memorization of |
|addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts. |
|The drafts of revised standards will be posted for public review and comment for 60 days from November 12, 2014 through January 10, 2015. |
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|Gray highlighted standards denote one or more of the following reasons: |
|1. Standard as currently written received greater than or equal to 90% approval. |
|2. Standard as currently written was changed due to vertical alignment. |
|3. Standard as currently written was deleted to eliminate duplication. |
|4. Standard as currently written was reviewed and modifications were recommended for inclusion in Teacher Guidance documents. |
|5. Standard as currently written was reviewed and no change was recommended. |
|Drafts of Revised Standards |
|Please click on the following links to access the draft of the revised standards: |
|> Revised English Language Arts Standards |
|> Revised Mathematics Standards |
|Surveys for Revised Standards |
|After you have reviewed the draft revised standards, please click on the following links to access a short survey to provide your feedback about the revisions |
|to the standards: |
|> Survey for Feedback of Revised English Language Arts Standards |
|> Survey for Feedback of Revised Mathematics Standards |
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ELA Reporter October-November, 2014
(Recent Edition)
ELA Triathlon, a three-phase strategic design to prepare for “Rigorous Academic Writing.”
• Phase I includes instruction to promote and build sustainability for rigorous writing by using the process embedded in the DBQ/LBQ Project (Document Based Questions/Literary Based Questions). This process empowers teachers to prepare students for rigorous academic writing.
• Phase II will include a deep understanding of “Learning Progressions” enabling teachers to more tightly align standards K-12 and invest students with the power to understand their own learning progression.
• Phase III includes a close examination of performance-based tasks for the purpose of giving students grade-level appropriate, scaffold opportunities to demonstrate their ability to analyze and synthesize information.
The goal? Rigorous Academic Writing that evinces student learning and enhances student achievement.
We continue to partner with our RESA ELA Specialists and the ELA Advisory Council to assess the needs of our teachers and to evaluate the resources we have in order to support new initiatives to improve instruction. Please urge your teachers to sign up for our ListServ (links appear below) so that they can get copies of The ELA Reporter and other important links to instructional strategies, professional research, updates, videos, and other valuable information.
Professional Learning
Update on Phase I: Rigorous Academic Writing (DBQ/LBQ Literacy Project)
Partnering with RESAs, we want to encourage those teachers who received two days of training to walk the training back into their classrooms and to apply the step-by-step process for rigorous academic writing: to have students closely read multiple texts, extrapolate a theme, write a thesis, and then write an essay to support their argument with text evidence extracted from the examined texts. RESAs will be asked to provide an opportunity for the trained cadre of teachers to meet and debrief how the process worked in class and share ideas about how they had to modify the process to meet the needs of their students. Also, these teacher-leaders will have the opportunity to collaboratively plan how to open their classrooms for peer observations. Hopefully, these teacher-leaders can become hubs of professional learning with the power to impact fellow teaching peers. This creation of Professional Learning Communities will continue to serve as a “launch pad” for “Collaborative Classrooms” where teachers and administrators can come observe this process. We are working toward the goal of being able to record some of these classrooms where this kind of instruction is taking root and post video for continued PL. Our objective is to grow “Collaborative Classrooms” for Rigorous Academic Writing all over the state. To find out more about the DBQ/LBQ Literacy Project, you can access their site at the following link: .
Update on Phase II: Learning Progressions
Once more the DOE ELA/Literacy team and RESA ELA Specialists are partnering to begin planning the creation of Learning Progressions for Writing (a critical need) across Georgia. We have provided each RESA with a brand new publication from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project called Writing Pathways. Our next quarterly meeting will include a book study followed by a carefully orchestrated plan to train Georgia teachers. Depending on budget concerns, our hope is to bring Home Grown Institutes to Georgia teachers next summer. THIS WILL EMPOWER OUR TEACHERS TO ENGAGE STUDENTS IN OWNING THEIR OWN LEARNING PROGRESSION TOWARD ACADEMIC GROWTH AND ACHIEVEMENT.
Many of you heard Mary Ehrenworth, a colleague of Lucy Caulkins at Teachers College, at the Fall GACIS Conference; if so, this study will provide our teachers with the kind of inspired professional development that is vital to Georgia’s success! To find out more about the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, you may wish to explore their website:
Watch for an announcement of a training opportunity for ELA teachers with Mary Ehrenworth, tentatively being planned for mid-January, 2015.
Update on Phase III: Using the AP Lang Synthesis Essay, we want teachers to begin with the end in mind (Understanding by Design) to create grade appropriate performance-based tasks that include multiple texts (including literary, informational, graphs, charts, maps, art, photos, videos, or other multimedia texts); then ask students to read and select from the thematically aligned texts to support their own written response. If we are able to provide a grade-level, scaffold-approach to this rigorous skill, from grades 11 back down to 4, then we are not only preparing students for the demands of new state assessments but also for the demands of academic college/career readiness required by our standards!
This Phase III is in the formative stage of planning.
Old Business: ELA Summer Academy 2014
The ELA Summer Academies provided your teachers with inspiration, information, and rock-solid teaching strategies. Check out the Wiki:
Available ELA Resources:
ELA Program Webpage at:
CCGPS ELA Resources and Professional Learning Opportunities at:
Content Literacy Resources and Professional Learning Opportunities at:
Wikis:
High School Wiki:
Middle School Wiki:
Elementary School Wiki:
Twitter: @gadoeela
Subscribe to our newsletter at:
|ELA K-5 |Join-ela-k-5@list.doe.k12.ga.us |
|ELA 6-8 |Join-ela-6-8@list.doe.k12.ga.us |
|ELA 9-12 |Join-ela-9-12@list.doe.k12.ga.us |
|ELA District Support |Join-ela-districtsupport@list.doe.k12.ga.us |
|ELA Administrators |Join-ela-admin@list.doe.k12.ga.us |
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES
Teacher Guidance Documents – Valuable information for teachers can be found in these documents, including a standard-by-standard explanation of how to teach the skills required for mastery; academic vocabulary and performance tasks are suggested for students to be able to demonstrate mastery or progress. After the “revised standards” are approved, the ELA staff will be asking for teachers to review and revise the Guidance Documents for inclusion in our new Georgia Standards.
ELA Sample Unit Frameworks – The Unit One sample framework of instructional material from each grade level has been upgraded based on the feedback received from users and the parameters of the Tri-State Rubric for Common Core unit planning. Resources connected to the units have not changed. The revised units have been posted on the Wikis (see links above). These units are for exemplar purposes only. Implementation at the local level is entirely optional. The units that were created are made available in editable format so that texts and lessons may be replaced or substituted if desired. Revised and/or new original sample units of instruction are presently posted on the wikis.
ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
Literacy Design Collaborative - The GaDOE trained over a hundred teachers on Literacy Design Collaborative () in Savannah, GA last spring, and sessions were again offered to teachers at the Summer Academies, 2014. Contact your local RESA for additional training opportunities. This resource provides sample, teacher-created units and lessons for all grade levels and follow strict design models and rubrics.
Webcasts - The Common Core Tools Webcasts are still available for viewing on our GSO landing page (see link above). These webcasts feature Georgia educators from all grade levels discussing their instructional strategies and feature authentic student work along with all resources necessary to implement the lessons discussed. The webcasts can be watched at the viewer’s convenience and each features 5-8 short videos that can split into shorter sessions as desired.
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ESOL/Title III
Contact: Cori Alston (calston@doe.k12.ga.us) or Carol Johnson (cjohnson@doe.k12.ga.us)
The 14th Annual Kennesaw State University ESOL Conference will be held February 3-5, 2015 at the KSU Continuing Education Center. Tuesday, February 3, will have a Middle/High School focus, while Wednesday and Thursday, February 4 and 5, will have an Elementary focus. Registration is open; however, Early Registration will close December 19. Please visit the conference website () for registration and additional information regarding the conference.
Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL)
Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS)
Contact: Laura Evans, Standards Coordinator (laura.evans@decal.) or 404-656-4711
Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) began an alignment study and revision of Georgia’s early learning standards for children birth to five years in 2010. The Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS) were finalized in June 2013 and replace the Georgia Early Learning Standards (birth through three) and Georgia’s Pre-K Content Standards. You can access the standards at gelds.decal.. The revision process stemmed from a need for higher-quality standards for children birth to age 5 and a need for better alignment with the CCGPS for K-12. Top researchers in early childhood education conducted the alignment study that examined content, rigor, and age-appropriateness.
These new early learning standards reflect Georgia’s commitment to prepare young children for success in K-12 and beyond. They address all areas or domains of children’s learning and development and provide linkages between age groups that will help children effectively transition to Kindergarten. The GELDS are a resource for not only Special Education Preschool teachers, but also all K-12 teachers. For more information, please visit gelds.decal.. This website serves as a portal for resources and support on the GELDS.
Georgia Virtual School (GaVS)
Contact: Jay Heap (jay.heap@doe.k12.ga.us), Joe Cozart (jcozart@doe.k12.ga.us), and/or Leslie Houck (lhouck@doe.k12.ga.us)
Georgia Educator Named National Blended and Online Learning Teacher of the Year
Carrie Madden, a full-time instructor for Georgia Virtual School (GaVS) is the National Blended and Online Learning Teacher of the Year, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) announced today. Madden is also the current GaVS Teacher of the Year.
The Blended and Online Learning Teacher of the Year Award is given to one K-12 educator each year whose efforts as a blended and/or online teacher exemplify to the highest degree their commitment to student success, knowledge and skill as a professional educator, and dedication to the field of blended and online teaching.
Madden (photo attached) is a full-time science instructor, a teacher mentor, and the current teacher of the year for Georgia Virtual School, a GaDOE program that provides online learning opportunities for public, private and home-schooled students.
“As an instructor for Georgia Virtual School, I have been provided with a wealth of professional development and instructional support that helps me to deliver an outstanding personalized education to students,” Madden said. “Combining this with my previous classroom experience has made for a particularly self-reflective transformation of my approach with students in an online setting. Creating an engaging and inviting classroom, where authentic communication about student progress toward learning goals drives instruction, is key. The ability of the online environment to open the doors of possibility for all students to succeed is inspiring.”
Madden (M.S., M.A.T.) brings nearly a dozen years as a secondary and post-secondary science educator to the virtual classroom, and is passionate about finding personalized and creative ways to connect with students using interactive technology. She is a science instructor at GaVS, works with teacher quality on a teacher-training MOOC, and has worked with the GaVS mentoring program to assist new teachers in acclimating to online teaching and meeting their professional goals. She is a frequent contributor to in-house professional development for faculty, and received GaVS’ 2013 New Teacher of the Year and 2014 Teacher of the Year awards.
“Carrie is a dedicated and enthusiastic educator,” said Jay Heap, director of Georgia Virtual Learning, an office of the Georgia Department of Education. “The online environment has allowed her to communicate and personalize instruction for all of her students while continuing to provide a challenging curriculum. Georgia Virtual School is proud of her accomplishments in the area of online instruction and the support she has provided to other teachers in the GaVS program as a mentor.”
Gifted Education
Contact: Gail Humble (ghumble@doe.k12.ga.us) Office Phone 404-463-0507
Please send personnel changes in Gifted Coordinator/Supervisor to ghumble@doe.k12.ga.us so that we can insure that the appropriate person in your district receives information related to the Gifted Program.
Gifted Coordinators Meetings
Thank you for the tremendous response and representation for our Fall Gifted Coordinator Meetings. We had discussions on program models, FTE, assessment, the new SLDS and just general questions some of you
had on your minds. I especially appreciate the coordinators who so graciously hosted our meetings.
Important Calendar Dates for Gifted Coordinators:
National Association of Gifted Coordinators Convention – Baltimore, MD November 13 – 16, 2014
Heart of Georgia Gifted Coordinators Meeting – December 8, 2014 9:00 am
Georgia Gifted Coordinators Conference – January 21 – January 22, 2015 – Jekyll Island
Georgia Association of Gifted Children Convention – March 9-10, Athens
Gifted Eligibility Form - SLDS in Winter, 2015
A Gifted Eligibility Form is being created for access through the Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) as a result of a collaboration of Georgia DOE and coordinators serving on the Georgia Gifted Coordinators Council Board. This project has been in the works for two years. The addition will greatly benefit individual gifted teachers as well as district supervisors and state personnel as we gather student information at all levels. District identified and approved personnel will be able to access a student’s gifted placement referral and/or placement information through the SLDS as students enter a system or school. That means an end to trying to follow a sometimes frustrating paper trail! When this application is in place, I will send a newsletter to district gifted coordinators/supervisors with complete information. Details will be presented at the annual Gifted Coordinators Conference in Winter, 2015.
Health and Physical Education
Contacts: Therese McGuire, Program Specialist (tmcguire@doe.k12.ga.us)
Michael Tenoschok, Program Specialist (mtenoschok@doe.k12.ga.us)
Upcoming Fitnessgram DATES to Remember
Fall Semester Fitnessgram scores should have been entered by December 5, 2014
Parent reports sent home by December 31, 2014
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FITNESSGRAM BOOSTER SESSIONS
A new training has been designed for physical education teachers who have been testing students using the FITNESSGRAM fitness test. The FITNESSGRAM Booster Session is the next step in the process of making teachers better in all aspects of fitness testing.
The FITNESSGRAM Booster training session will provide:
• Review of accurate scoring and form breaks – using real-time demonstration and pre-recorded videos for participants to identify form breaks for the five tests administered in GA
• Review of common test administration errors and how to avoid them – using teacher feedback from past sessions, a list of common errors will be provided and a discussion of how to avoid the errors
• Lessons learned and best practices – using teacher feedback and best practices from the field of physical education
• Time management while assessing classes – discussion/sharing ideas about how to manage large classes, especially when assessing less than 25% of the class at one time
• Ideas on how to avoid sit and wait while assessing – discussion/sharing ideas about stations and/or alternative activities students can be involved in to decrease student wait time
• Using school fitness assessment data to improve instruction – reviewing teacher/school fitness data and how the data can be used to inform curriculum decisions
• Using school fitness assessment data to communicate to administrators and parent groups - reviewing teacher/school fitness data and how to present the information to administrators, parents, and community members
• Sample activities that integrate the health related components of fitness (at least one per health-related component of fitness area) – secondary level activities teachers can implement with their classes, based on student need, related to fitness assessment data
We will need at least 20 teachers in order for these sessions to be scheduled. (Neighboring systems may combine in order to reach the minimum attendance.) Local systems would be responsible for substitute costs. There is no cost to the local system for the trainers. If your system is interested in having physical educators updated in the aspects of FITNESSGRAM testing listed above, please contact Mike Tenoschok or Therese McGuire.
FITNESSGRAM RESOURCES
A new resource is available to all schools participating in the fitness assessment. There is no cost for this resource for GA public schools licensed to use FGRAM. ( All of you)
Each teacher will need a code to access the program. Access cannot be shared so be sure to make the request accordingly.
To request the number needed for your school system please email mtenoschok@doe.k12.ga.us
ONLY one person (the Fitnessgram Contact) per system should make the request for the number of codes needed. Individual teachers should not request a code.
Example: System A has 3 schools each school has 3 teachers. The contact for that system will complete the request for 9 codes.
After requests are complete we will send you the requested number of codes. Those should then be assigned individually to your physical education teachers.
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The Fitnessgram Resource can also be used to provide 1 PLU opportunity for local teachers. The course FITNESSGRAM TEST ADMINISTRATION has been approved by the GaDOE. The LEA would be responsible for issuing the PLU.
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*FITNESSGRAM in partnership with NFL Foundations as a part of the NFL PLAY 60 program and the Cooper Institute provided this resource. It is hosted via Human Kinetics.
New SuperTracker Resource Available!
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|This week the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) launched a new, free resource for teachers, schools, and health educators. SuperTracker |
|Nutrition Lesson Plans for High School Students help students grades 9-12 learn how to build a healthy diet using SuperTracker. |
|The lesson plans include a variety of topics such as selecting healthy snacks, finding personal recommendations for what and how much to eat, evaluating |
|food selections, and building healthy meals. Each lesson plan includes learning objectives, detailed instructions, and accompanying resources and handouts. |
|The lesson plans are available for download on the “For Educators” page at . |
|SuperTracker is an engaging (and free) interactive tool that can help students think critically about their food and physical activity choices, reduce risk |
|of chronic disease, and maintain a healthy weight. SuperTracker users can determine what and how much to eat; track foods, physical activities, and weight; |
|and personalize with goal setting, virtual coaching, and journaling. |
|We encourage you to help us spread the word about this new resource! |
|Best Regards, |
|The CNPP SuperTracker Team |
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|This service is provided to you at no charge by . |
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Therese McGuire, Ed.S. tmcguire@doe.k12.ga.us
Mike Tenoschok, Ed.D. mtenoschok@doe.k12.ga.us
Bus Safety Curriculum Resources: Elementary, Middle and High School Bus Safety Curriculum Resources are available at:
Home School
Contact: Patrick Blenke (ablenke@doe.k12.ga.us)
Home school parents/guardians are considered the school or Local Education Authority (LEA) official for most purposes. This means generally that they have the rights and responsibilities of a public local board of education, superintendent or principal when it comes to their children’s educational needs, including signing and providing any and all documents to the school should they decide to enroll their child back into public school.
If a student decides to return to your school, there is not a withdrawal form from the GaDOE. The indication that the home-schooled student wants to return to or enroll in your pubic school is the only notification you need to enroll them in your school/system.
Awarding credit and grade-level placement is a local school district decision. Each school district is required by State Board of Education Rule 160-5-1-.15 to have procedures regarding the enrollment of students transferring from a home school or non-accredited institution.
Home school curriculums are not accredited even if the accreditation agency is approved by the state board of education.
Rule: 160-5-1-.15 (b) Each local board of education shall adopt a policy for validating credit for courses taken at a non-accredited elementary or secondary school or home study program.
When a parent decides to enroll his/her child in home school, please direct them to the link below:
JROTC
Contact Gary Mealer (gmealer@doe.k12.ga.us)
• Gary Mealer from GADOE, Windy Fortenberry and Phyllis Payne from GA Professional Standards Commission, and LTC Robert Rooker the Director of Army Instruction and Leadership for Atlanta Public Schools will be visiting Fort Knox, Kentucky Army base on January 28-29. The purpose of their visit is to review the JROTC instructor training process. This hopefully will result in the approval of the Army becoming a teacher certification provider. This would mean instructors completing the military JROTC instructor training would be candidates for applying for teacher certification immediately upon completing their instructor training and would eliminate them acquiring a permit. The other JROTC branches of the Air Force, Marines and Navy would then be evaluated as well as potential providers.
For additional information contact Gary Mealer at GADOE. (gmealer@doe.k12.ga.us)
Library/Media
Contact: Pam Smith (pamsmith@doe.k12.ga.us)
GALILEO Password
The GALILEO password, unique for each school system, changed at the first of August and will not change again until January 5, 2015. Under a new policy approved by the steering committee, the password will change three times a year rather than four. Any media specialist can request to be added to the distribution list. On campus, access to GALILEO is automatic, but the password is needed for access away from school. Media specialists have the responsibility of then distributing the password to teachers, students, staff, and parents. Password change notifications are sent by e-mail 30 days before the password change date. That 30-day period is a great time to request a change if for some reason the school would like a different password. The password pool has been vetted several times, but sometimes not-so-great ones slip through. As an example, one school received the password “secret,” so when students asked what the password was, the media specialist told them it was “secret.” More information on the password and access policy is available at
GALILEO Webinar Schedule
Webinars on key GALILEO resources will introduce new features and content and reacquaint experienced users with their favorite databases. The webinars are an hour long and most are scheduled late in the day to accommodate teachers’ and media specialists’ schedules. Contact Karen Minton at Karen.minton@usg.edu with questions.
Britannica School for Elementary, Middle, and High
Webinars focusing on Britannica for ELA and mathematics will be scheduled soon. Watch for updates on the GALILEO training page at .
Mathematics
Contact: Sandi Woodall (swoodall@doe.k12.ga.us)
Mathematics curriculum supervisors are invited to participate in a District Mathematics Supervisor information session scheduled for December 13, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. Our web conferencing tool, GoToTraining, requires that you register using the link: .
Once you’ve registered, you will be sent a confirmation email with session participation instructions.
Math Science Partnership
Contact: Amanda Buice (abuice@doe.k12.ga.us) and/or Telephone: (404) 657-8319 or Fax: (404) 656-5744
Migrant Education and Refugee Programs
Contact: John Wight (jwight@doe.k12.ga.us) 404-463-1857
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)
Is there a way to get quick access to the academic records of migrant students? Yes! The Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX) is the technology that allows States to share educational and health information on migrant children who travel from State to State and who, as a result, have student records in multiple States' information systems. MSIX works in concert with the existing migrant student information systems that States currently use to manage their migrant data to fulfill its mission to ensure the appropriate enrollment, placement, and accrual of credits for migrant children nationwide.
Who should have access to MSIX? Staff working with new student placement and records review.
In order to obtain an MSIX User Account, you must complete the online training and an application. Please go to the Title I, Part C – Migrant Education Program website at the link below and follow the directions for securing a Secondary User Account.
Link:
Follow the Migrant Education Program (MEP) on Twitter: @georgiamep
For information on the Migrant Education Program, please visit our website:
Refugee Youth and Children
Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services (BRYCS) provides national technical assistance to organizations serving refugees and immigrants so that all newcomer children and youth can reach their potential. Please visit this website for a variety of resources to support these children and youth.
Science
Contact: Juan-Carlos Aguilar (jaguilar@doe.k12.ga.us)
Science Georgia Performance Standards:
• A timeline for the review and revision of the current science GPS has not yet been established.
• The state will continue to provide on-going professional learning and supporting resources for the current standards.
• Science GPS and STEM initiatives continue to be a critical priority at the state and local levels.
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST)
The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) are the highest honors bestowed by the United States government specifically for K-12 mathematics and science (including computer science) teaching. Established by Congress in 1983, the PAEMST program authorizes the President to bestow up to 108 awards each year. The award recognizes those teachers who develop and implement a high-quality instructional program that is informed by content knowledge and enhances student learning. Since the program's inception, more than 4,300 teachers have been recognized for their contributions in the classroom and to their profession.
Recipients of the award receive the following:
• A certificate signed by the President of the United States.
• A paid trip for two to Washington, D.C., to attend a series of recognition events and professional development opportunities.
• A $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation.
In addition to recognizing outstanding teaching in mathematics or science (including computer science), the program provides teachers with an opportunity to build lasting partnerships with colleagues across the nation. This growing network of award-winning teachers serves as a vital resource for improving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and keeping America globally competitive.
Nominations for talented secondary teachers (7-12) to participate in this year’s program are open.
The Stone Mountain Memorial Association
The Stone Mountain Memorial Association offers free science and geology programs for all grades, as well as science kits that can be checked out and outreach programs. The outreach programs are only for DeKalb and Gwinnett County due to travel. For more information visit
The NEA Foundation Grants
The NEA Foundation provides grants to improve the academic achievement of students in U.S. public schools. The proposed work should engage students in critical thinking and problem solving that deepen their knowledge of standards-based subject matter; and should improve students’ habits of inquiry, self-directed learning, and critical reflection. The maximum award is $5,000. Practicing U.S. public school teachers, public school education support professionals, or faculty or staff at public higher education institutions are eligible to apply. Application deadlines are February 1, June 1, and October 15. For more information, go to .
PASCO STEM Educator Awards
The PASCO STEM Educator awards, sponsored by PASCO scientific, in partnership with the National Science Teachers Association, recognize excellence and innovation in the field of STEM education at middle school and high school levels.
Eligibility: The applicant must be a 6–12 STEM educator. Individuals must have a minimum of 3 years teaching experience in the STEM fields, who implement innovative inquiry-based, technology infused STEM programs. One middle level and two high school level recipients will be awarded annually.
Award: A total of 3 awardees will be selected annually. Each awardee will receive up to $1000 to cover travel expenses to attend the NSTA national conference and be part of a STEM share-a-thon workshop, a $500 monetary gift, and a $5000 certificate for PASCO scientific products. The recipient of the award will be honored during the Awards Banquet at the NSTA national conference. To go to
You Be The Chemist Challenge
Get your students excited about chemistry with the You Be The Chemist Challenge—a free, national academic competition for grade 5-8 students. The Challenge was created by the Chemical Educational Foundation® (CEF), a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing science and chemistry education. The Challenge tests students’ knowledge of chemistry concepts, scientific theories, and laboratory safety in an engaging, interactive format. Local and state competitions occur in the spring and the top student from each state (together with one educator!) receives an expenses-paid trip to the national competition in June. To find out how your school can get involved, please complete our inquiry form, e-mail challenge@, or call 703/ 527-6223.
NASA's Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)
SOFIA is now accepting applications for the 2015 Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (AAA) Program. The AAA program is an exciting and unique opportunity for educators. The teams that are selected receive online astronomy instruction, and a trip to Palmdale, CA to participate in two SOFIA Science Flights. The science flights offer educators interaction with astronomers, engineers and technicians on board the aircraft, and a view to the collaboration that leads to astronomical data collection and the research papers that follow.
The eligibility and program requirements are detailed at . In brief, one team member must be a science teacher and the other team member may be a teacher, informal educator or amateur astronomer. The program pays all costs. Applications are due December 22, 2014.
Please contact Pamela Harman, Co-Manager SOFIA Education Program, at pharman@ if you need assistance.
The Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision program
ExploraVision, which is sponsored by Toshiba and administered by NSTA, was created to help motivate young students to excel in science and technology. Working in teams of two to four to design innovative technologies that could exist in 20 years, students have the opportunity to win a $10,000 U.S. Savings Bond (at maturity). Teachers can learn more about the 2014–2015 competition by watching ExploraVision’s new video (), hosted by Bill Nye the Science Guy, or visiting the competition website at . Follow ExploraVision on Twitter at @ToshibaInnovate or like ExploraVision on Facebook.
Registration for the the ExploraVision program is the world’s largest K–12 student science competition is open at . The deadline for all projects is January 30, 2015.
Award for Excellence in Earth Science Teaching
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is accepting applications for the Edward C. Roy Award for Excellence in Earth Science Teaching. Given annually, this award is presented to one full-time K-8 teacher in the U.S. or U.K. whose excellence and innovation in the classroom elevates students' understanding of the Earth and its many processes.
The winner of the Edward C. Roy Award will receive a cash prize and an additional travel grant to attend the National Science Teachers Association Annual Conference in Chicago in March 2015. To be eligible, applications must be postmarked by January 10, 2015.
For more information on requirements, application procedures and deadlines, please visit .
STEM
Contact: Gilda Lyon (glyon@doe.k12.ga.us) or (404) 463-1977
STEM Georgia Educator Laureate Awards
Registration is now open!
Go to for registration information.
Win statewide recognition, gift certificates, free national conferences and many other awards!
The STEM Georgia Educator Laureate Awards are designed to reward Georgia K-12 classroom teachers for exceptional work in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Teachers are provided a list of activities that may be completed in order to earn digital badges worth specific points.
The sooner you get started the more you can win!
Sponsored by the following organizations:
Georgia Power
Discovery Education
Delta Education/Foss
Technology Association of Georgia
Social Studies
Contact: Shaun Owen (sowen@doe.k12.ga.us)
• Transitioning to the Georgia Milestones - Continue to teach the GPS, integrate the Social Studies Literacy Standards throughout the course, and increase the rigor in classroom instruction and assessment.
• Upcoming Medal of Honor Character Development Trainings-
North GA RESA MOH Workshop on 1/14/15
Chattahoochee Flint RESA MOH Workshop on 1/28/15
Coastal Plains RESA MOH Workshop on 2/12/15
Pioneer RESA MOH Workshop on 3/11/15
• Upcoming Social Studies Pedagogy Training- Bruce Lesh will be conducting several trainings across Georgia this year. We will send out additional information as soon as the dates are finalized. Recipients will receive a free copy of his bestselling book.
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Middle GA RESA workshop on 1/26/14- registration link-
Okefenokee RESA workshop on 1/27/14- registration link-
SW GA RESA workshop on 2/16/14
• Governor’s Directive for Social Studies Resources- To provide input, please click on the link below.
• AP US History Course Framework Crosswalk Document- To provide input, please click on the link below.
Division for Special Education Services and Supports
Director: Debbie Gay (dgay@doe.k12.ga.us) Telephone: (404) 657- 9959
Contact: Anne Ladd (aladd@doe.k12.ga.us) Telephone: (404) 463-0411
Reminder! Mark Your Calendar:
2015 Special Education Spring Leadership Meeting
March 16-18, 2015
Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center
Peachtree City
(More Information Available Soon!)
World Languages and International Education
Contact: Greg Barfield (gbarfield@doe.k12.ga.us ) 404-651-5363
Michaela Claus-Nix (MClausNix@doe.k12.ga.us) 404-651-8373
Memorandum of Understanding Signed with the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany
Dr. John Barge, State Superintendent of Georgia and Mr. Andreas Stoch, Minister of Education of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany signed a Memorandum of Understanding on December 1, 2014. The two states pledged to cooperate in the area of school partnerships, teacher exchanges and professional development, school administration and career tech education. Please contact Michaela Claus-Nix at mclausnix@doe.k12.ga.us if you are interested in a partnership with a school in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. The scope of school partnerships are to be determined by the participating schools and may include collaborative work on projects, contact via Skype, exchanges, etc.
Upcoming Free Webinars for Georgia Foreign Language Teachers – please share!
• January 8, 2015: 4:00-5:00pm: Stephane Allagnon (French Teacher, Director of International Programs, Woodward Academy), How Technology can Support your Teaching and your Students' Learning
• February 5, 2015 4:00-5:00pm: Dr. Robert Patrick (Chair of FL Department, Parkview High School, Latin Teacher), Embedded Readings: Acquisition and Literacy in the Latin Classroom
Deadline to register for FLAG/SCOLT Conference in Atlanta on March 5-7, 2015 is February 1, 2015 – Please share!
Please check the GaDoE World Languages website frequently for upcoming events and resources.
The World Languages Program Specialists are available for free professional development in your district. Please contact either Dr. Greg Barfield at gbarfield@doe.k12.ga.us or Michaela Claus-Nix at mclausnix@doe.k12.ga.us.
Alternative Education
Contact: Linda Marie Massenburg (lmassenb@doe.k12.ga.us) (404) 656-4150- office
Announcements:
Salutations from Alternative Education!
Please save the dates for the following meetings:
➢ Alternative Education Updates Webinar is scheduled for Monday, December 15, 2014 at 11am. This webinar will address updates in the field of alternative education. Topics covered, Transition Framework, Revised Alternative Education Standards and the new GAPSS Process, Converting Alternative Programs to Schools, AEP Website, and the Mental Health Webinar. Promise to have working audio.
Registration URL:
Webinar ID: 144-128-635
Audio
Participants can use their computer's microphone and speakers (VoIP) or telephone.
United States
Toll: +1 (480) 297-0021
Access Code: 281-685-254
Audio PIN: Shown after joining the webinar
➢ Over the last few months I have received several questions on how to convert alternative education programs into alternative schools? To help facilitate this transition, a webinar will be held on January 13, 2015 at 10am with GaDOE representatives from Alternative Education, Title I, Data Collections, Special Education, Budget, Facilities, and Accountability. The webinar will explore what districts need to have in place in order to facilitate a smooth transition that meets state and federal guidelines. During the webinar we will also introduce and review the “Conversion Checklist.” The Conversion Checklist will act as a monitoring procedure to help districts gauge where they are in the process and help the GaDOE to provide timely and appropriate technical support. While everyone is invited to participate in the webinar, it is extremely important that representatives from Title I, Data Collections, Special Education, and Accountability are present.
Registration URL:
Webinar ID: 115-102-619
Audio
Participants can use their computer's microphone and speakers (VoIP) or telephone.
United States
Toll: +1 (646) 307-1707
Access Code: 218-644-640
Audio PIN: Shown after joining the webinar
Assessment
Contact: Tony Eitel (aeitel@doe.k12.ga.us)
The following assessment windows are on the State Testing Calendar for the months of December 2014 and January 2015:
• Georgia Milestones End of Course (EOC) Winter Main Administration
– December 1, 2014 – January 9, 2015
• Georgia Milestones End of Course (EOC) Spring 2015 Mid-Month Administration (January window)
– January 20 – 30, 2015
• Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS)
• Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA) Main Administration
• ACCESS for ELLs/Alternate ACCESS for ELLs
– January 20 – March 3, 2015
• National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) – Sampled Systems/Schools only
– January 26 – March 6, 2015
Assessment Webinar Memorandum and Updated 2014-2015 State Testing Calendar Posted
Memorandum: 2014-2015 Assessment Webinar Schedule (November 2014-June 2015)
2014-2015 (Updated) and 2015-2016 (New Posting!) State Testing Calendars
Please visit our Georgia Milestones website at:
Also, please note the resources below:
Understanding and Using Constructed Response Items in the Classroom:
– NAEP Questions Tool
– Eliciting Student Response Training Modules
Formative Assessment Toolbox Update
The Georgia Formative Assessment Toolbox consists of the Formative Item Bank, Formative Benchmark Assessments and Georgia’s Formative Instructional Practices online professional learning (Georgia FIP). In concert, these tools provide educators a high quality and accurate system for learning about formative assessment, and using high quality assessment items to learn what students know about the content standards and are able to demonstrate for the purpose of improving teaching and learning. Current information about each resource in the toolbox is below.
The Georgia Formative Item Bank (FIB)
Contact: Jan Reyes, Ed.D. (jreyes@doe.k12.ga.us) (404) 463-6665
The Formative Item Bank, currently hosted in the Online Assessment System (OAS), has been expanded to include items for Grades 1-2 English/Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics, and items for Grades 3-8 Science and Social Studies, U.S. History, and Biology. We have also added new items in Grades 3-8 ELA and Mathematics, 9th Literature, 10th Literature, American Literature, Coordinate Algebra, Analytic Geometry, and Advanced Algebra.
The purpose of the item bank is to provide teachers with items and tasks that they can use to assess students’ knowledge while they are learning the state standards. The bank includes items of varying formats with a predominance of constructed response items, which are extremely helpful to teachers to measure the full expectations of the standards. Well-implemented formative assessment using these items can provide teachers what they need to know in order to differentiate, remediate, re-teach and/or enrich their teaching in order to meet the varying needs of their students.
In late fall of 2014, the assessment items will also be available from the Georgia Online Formative Assessment Resources (GOFAR).
The Georgia Formative Assessment Benchmarks (G-FABs)
Contact: Jan Reyes, Ed.D. (jreyes@doe.k12.ga.us) (404) 463-6665
Development of the Georgia Formative Assessment Benchmarks is complete and 24 benchmark assessments are now available for all systems in Georgia via the Online Assessment System (OAS). School systems/state schools have the ability to use the benchmarks as a part of their balanced assessment plan that should include both formative items and benchmark assessments to inform teaching and learning. While teachers have access to the formative item bank in the OAS, only system-level test coordinators have access to the G-FABs. The benchmarks can be administered by the systems as they see fit---perhaps as a diagnostic administered in the early stages of a school year; a mid-year assessment to guide instruction and intervention for the remainder of the school year; or as a precursor to the administration of state assessments to guide last minute remediation and support.
The formative benchmark assessments that are now available include:
• English/Language Arts (ELA): Grades 1-8, 9th Lit, 10th Lit, American Lit
• Mathematics: Grades 1-8, Coordinate Algebra, Analytic Geometry, Advanced Algebra
• U.S. History
• Biology
There are also additional district level items for Grades 1 – high school ELA and mathematics, U.S. History, and Biology.
Georgia FIP Professional Learning Opportunity - GeorgiaFIP
Contact: Kelli Harris-Wright (Kharris-wright@doe.k12.ga.us) (404) 463-5047
The GaDOE strongly encourages Administrative, Curriculum/Instruction, Assessment, School Improvement, and Professional Learning Directors to collaborate and share with principals the transformative and blended learning model of professional development; Georgia’s Formative Instructional Practices (Georgia FIP). The foundational content in Modules 1-5 provides a solid beginning to implement standards-based instruction appropriately. The term “formative” is a key concept because it means that FIP strategies are used during the teaching and learning process rather than at the end of instruction.
Twelve new courses have been added to GaDOE’s Formative Instructional Practices blended model for professional learning for 14-15. The new courses focus on ELA and Mathematics specifically for educators at the elementary, middle and high school levels, and also special student populations.
New “FIP in Action” Online Learning Modules
• Creating Clear Learning Targets for ELA in Elementary Schools
• Creating Clear Learning Targets for ELA in Middle Schools
• Creating Clear Learning Targets for ELA in High Schools
• Creating Clear Learning Targets for Math in Elementary Schools
• Creating Clear Learning Targets for Math in Middle Schools
• Creating Clear Learning Targets for Math in High Schools
• FIP in Action: ELA Grade 6 Argumentative Writing
• Creating Clear Learning Targets in Non-core Subjects (Physical Education)
• Advancing FIP through Professional Learning Teams
New “Reaching Every Student” Online Learning Modules
• Formative Instructional Practices: Reaching Students with Disabilities
• Formative Instructional Practices: Reaching English Language Learners
• Formative Instructional Practices: Reaching Gifted Students
To login to FIP, educators need an access code. District office and school-specific access codes to the Georgia FIP online learning system are in the GaDOE Portal Account of the district’s Test Director. There are two types of access codes: (1) administrative codes to take FIP courses and also monitor the online learning progress of staff, and, (2) learner codes for staff to take courses. A certificate for earned professional learning hours should be downloaded and archived when each online learning module has been completed.
ACCEL
Contact: Pat Blenke (ablenke@doe.k12.ga.us) 404-463-1765
College and Career Ready Performance Index and ESEA Waiver
Contact: Cowen Harter (charter@doe.k12.ga.us)
On July 31, 2014, the United States Department of Education approved the extension of Georgia’s ESEA Flexibility Waiver through the 2014-2015 school year. Among other things, the approved extension allows for:
• New Performance Targets for Coordinate Algebra
• New identification methodology for Alert Schools
The complete list of requested amendments and the approved waiver are posted on Accountability’s web page at:
A great deal of data preparation and gathering occurs before the CCRPI reports can be produced and published. Earlier this summer, school and district personnel submitted needed data via the CCRPI Data Collection application. Currently, district users are working within the CCRPI Assessment Matching application. The Summer Graduation application is also open for districts to submit to us their summer graduates. In September, we plan to open the Non-Participation and Cohort Withdrawal Update applications. The CRCT-M Reassignment application will open in October. All of these data are utilized in CCRPI calculations.
Alert School status is an annual identification. On August 12, 2014, the 2014 Alert Schools were identified. We hope to announce the 2014 Reward Schools next month. Also, at the August State Board of Education meeting, the 2015 CCRPI indicators were approved.
The CCRPI Accountability Team will continue to support schools and districts regarding CCRPI reports, applications, data, and calculations. The contact information for the Accountability Specialists can be found on our web page.
College Readiness Unit
Contacts for College Readiness Programs: ACT, AP, PSAT, SAT
Becky Chambers, rchambers@doe.k12.ga.us, Telephone (404-463-5098)
Bonnie Marshall, bmarshall@doe.k12.ga.us, Telephone (404-656-6854 )
Georgia Haygood McSwain, gmcswain@doe.k12.ga.us, Telephone (404-657-9799)
High Schools have received their 2014 PSAT shipments with copies of student scores and school-level information. A reminder that the school access code appears in the upper right hand corner of the school-level score summary information. Principals may use that code in January to access the PSAT Summary of Answers and Skills detailed information for instructional planning purposes AND this code may be used to access AP Potential which is a valuable resource for your 2015-2016 scheduling efforts.
Dual Enrollment & Move On When Ready (MOWR)
Contact: Gary Mealer (gmealer@doe.k12.ga.us)
• Dual Credit—GADOE has been working collaboratively with Technical College System of Georgia reviewing the new Career Cluster pathway courses. The reviews have resulted in additional matches and offerings for students. The updated Spring Dual Enrollment Matrix is now available for colleges and systems for advisement for the upcoming spring semester. It is located at the site on the link below. Also, joint counselor and dual credit webinars are being scheduled for the remainder of the year. More information will be distributed later.
Interim Flexibility for Dual Enrollment Course Numbers
(For post-secondary courses that do not have an elective high school course match or comparable course)
In order to provide maximum flexibility for eligible high school students enrolled in dual credit courses to receive academic credit at both the high school and postsecondary institution, the following may be utilized as described below for school year 2014-2015.
1) The current elective course numbers for grades 9-12 Study Skills included in State Board of Education Rule 160-4-2-.20 LIST OF STATE-FUNDED K-8 SUBJECTS AND 9-12 COURSES FOR STUDENTS ENTERING NINTH GRADE IN 2008 AND SUBSEQUENT YEARS may be used for alignment of elective high school courses to post-secondary courses submitted for dual enrollment purposes if it is determined by the Department of Education and either the University System of Georgia or the Technical College System of Georgia that the post-secondary course does not have an elective high school course match or comparable course.
Note: Other “matched” or comparable courses are already included in the Dual HOPE Credit Matrix or the Move On When Ready Supplemental List. Only the “unmatched” courses can be aligned to the current elective grades 9-12 Study Skills numbers as described below.
Reminder: For ACCEL purposes only, Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC) only pays ACCEL tuition for the five major subject areas (23-ELA, 26-Life Science, 27-Math, 40-Physical Science, 45-Social Studies, and 60 –World Language, not 35.0 Study Skills’ course numbers). Additional information will be forthcoming in 2015 regarding flexibility for unmatched courses that includes the ACCEL Course Directory beginning for school year 2015-2016.
2) For transcript purposes, local school districts should add the actual college course title corresponding to the dual enrollment course.
3) The following elective grades 9-12 Study Skills courses and numbers included in the chart below may be used for dual enrollment course number purposes as described above.
High schools must use the coding for dual courses as described on pages 7-8 of the Rule 160-4-2-.20 listed above. (A 4 as the fifth numerical digit to the right of the decimal indicates that the students receive credit for the course while taking it for dual enrollment credit at a postsecondary public or private institution, see example in the chart below.)
|State-Funded |STUDY SKILLS (GRADES 9-12) |Elective Course |
|Course Number |Course Title |e |
|with example for dual enrollment coding |with Strikethrough for local districts to | |
|as indicated in red font |add actual college course title | |
|35.06104 |Study Skills I |e |
| |Dual Enrollment College Course Title | |
|35.06204 |Study Skills II |e |
| |Dual Enrollment College Course Title | |
|35.06304 |Study Skills III |e |
| |Dual Enrollment College Course Title | |
|35.06404 |Study Skills I V |e |
| |Dual Enrollment College Course Title | |
It is important to remember this option is for courses that both the College and GADOE have reviewed and declared there are not current matches available.
MOWR Payments For Fall Semester
Payments are scheduled to be made on December 18th to all TCSG, USG and private colleges that are participating in MOWR this current 2014 Fall Semester.
Early Intervention Program (EIP)
Contacts: Pam Smith (pamsmith@doe.k12.ga.us)
The 2014-2015 Early Intervention Program (EIP) Guidance and Rubrics are posted from the Curriculum and Instruction Home page via the EIP link under “Other Programs”.
See below for the link to the EIP Guidance and Rubrics.
Changes for 2014-2015:
• Since the Pre-K standards (Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards) were recently updated, the Kindergarten EIP Entrance Rubrics for both Reading and Math were updated for the 2014-2015 school year. All other rubrics remained the same. The word “Pilot” was removed from the documents.
• Only minor tweaks were made to the Guidance document which included front cover dates and notes and updates on the page for the table of contents.
Jimmy Carter NHS Education Program
Contact: Annette Wise (awise@doe.k12.ga.us or plainsed@) (229) 824-5843
Schools have the opportunity to participate in several upcoming events in Plains - special farm tours in November and December, performances about Pearl Harbor and World War II, and the annual History Academic Bowl. If you are interested in bringing a group of students for a field trip for one of these events, you will need to book your group as soon as possible. Seating and groups tours are limited for all events.
Field trips to the historic sites in Plains are free! Three historic sites are available for students – 1976 Presidential Campaign Headquarters (the Depot), the Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm and Plains High School Museum. Interactive experiences have been designed to engage students in the historic resources as they learn about lifestyles on the 1920s farm, scavenger hunts at all 3 sites are available, guided walking tours and bus tours. This is a curriculum based experience that encourages active learning. Field can be booked online at
Learning Resources/Textbooks
Contact: Randall N. Lee (rlee@doe.k12.ga.us) (404) 656-0476
Textbook Webpage Link for Updates:
Response to Intervention (RTI)
Contact: To Be Determined
RTI
GaDOE-GPB Video Series on Georgia’s Promising Practices in RTI
This video series is a partnership between the Georgia Department of Education and the Student Support Team Association for Georgia Educators (SSTAGE). Georgia’s Promising Practices in RTI is a five part series which includes Georgia’s RTI Leaders’ Panel Discussion and four teams representing the 2012 SSTAGE STAR Award winning system, elementary, middle and high school. This series highlights Georgia educators who have successfully implemented practices that identify students' academic and behavioral needs and which systematically address those learning needs through multiple tiers of RTI supports. The desired outcome is improved academics and behavior for all Georgia students to successfully achieve the standards of the new Common Core. You may access the videos from either the GaDOE RTI webpage or the GPB Education website:
GaDOE RTI Webpage:
GPB Education- Common Core Hub series
Student Support Team (SST)
Contact: To Be Determined
School Psychologists
Contact: To Be Determined
Safe and Drug-Free Schools
Contacts: Marilyn Watson (mawatson@doe.k12.ga.us) and/or Jeff Hodges (jhodges@doe.k12.ga.us
School Climate Surveys
Please note that the school climate surveys for the 2014-2015 school year will be available on Monday, November 3, 2014. Data from the Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0, the Georgia School Personnel Survey and the Georgia Parent Survey along with other sources will be used in the calculation of a School Climate Star Rating which is a diagnostic tool within the CCRPI.
The surveys will officially open on Monday, November 3, 2014 and will remain open through Friday, February 27, 2015. It is critical for all schools to participate in each of the surveys. However, virtual schools, alternative schools and other “non-traditional” schools and programs are not required to participate in the school climate surveys.
Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0
There are two versions of the Georgia Student Health Survey (GSHS) 2.0. The first version is for middle and high school students (grades 6 – 12), and the second version is a short survey for elementary students (grades 3-5). At least 75% of students at each grade level (3-12) must participate in the GSHS 2.0 to be eligible for the School Climate Star Rating. Please make plans for your elementary, middle and high school students to participate in the GSHS 2.0. Survey responses are anonymous and will be submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis. The survey is offered at no cost to all Georgia public school districts and private schools that wish to participate. We will let you know soon when the Spanish version of the student survey is available. The URL addresses for the elementary, middle and high school surveys are posted below.
Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0 – ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (grades 3-5)
Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0 - MIDDLE SCHOOL (grades 6-8)
Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0 - HIGH SCHOOL (grades 9-12)
Georgia School Personnel Survey
The Georgia School Personnel Survey (GSPS) is modeled after the student survey and includes 31 questions. The GSPS is for all teachers, school administrators, certified staff members and other classified staff members (paraprofessionals, office staff, cafeteria workers, custodians, etc.) who work at least 50 percent of the day in the school. At least 75% of your teachers and administrators must participate in the survey to be eligible for the School Climate Star Rating. Most teachers should be able to participate in the GSPS using their classroom computer. The survey is also accessible using an iPad or smartphone. Survey responses are anonymous and will be submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis. Data results from the Georgia School Personnel Survey will not be available to the public and will not be posted online. The URL address for the Georgia School Personnel Survey is posted below.
Georgia School Personnel Survey:
Georgia Parent Survey
The Georgia Parent Survey is also modeled after the student survey and contains 24 questions. A Spanish version of the parent survey will be available soon. Parents will be able to complete the survey using their personal computers, smartphones or iPads. For parents that do not have access to the Internet, school administrators might consider scheduling dates and times to allow parents to complete the Georgia Parent Survey at school. All parents should be encouraged to participate in the Georgia Parent Survey because the data will be used to calculate the School Climate Star Rating . However, there is no mandatory participation rate for parents. Survey responses are anonymous and will be submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis. Data results from the Georgia Parent Survey will not be available to the public and will not be posted online. The URL address for the Georgia Parent Survey is posted below.
Georgia Parent Survey:
Survey Administration
Each of the surveys is administered online through the provided URL address (web address). As soon as the school administrator enters the URL address into the web browser, a drop-down menu will appear and the school administrator will use the drop-down menu to select their school district and their school. If there are new schools or private schools that wish to participate that are not included in the drop-down menu, please contact us using the contact information at the end of this e-mail and we will add the school to the list. Also, if you have problems locating your school with the drop-down menu procedure, please contact us. Please note that the surveys will officially open on Monday, November 3, 2014 and will remain open through Friday, February 27, 2015.
Survey Participation Website
The link to the survey participation website is . Simply enter your 3-digit school system ID number to view school-level survey participation rates for students, personnel and parents.
Remember, federal law requires that the student survey questions be made available for review by all interested parties; therefore, copies may be reproduced and made available to parents or other parties upon request. Copies of the Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0 questions are available online.
Please make sure that your parents/guardians know about the Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0 and are given the option to opt out if desired.
Thank you for participating in the school climate surveys. If you have questions, please contact Marilyn Watson and/or Jeff Hodges. Marilyn may be reached by email at mawatson@doe.k12.ga.us or by phone at (404) 651-7179 and Jeff may be reached by email at jhodges@doe.k12.ga.us or by phone at (404) 463-7891.
Dear Superintendents and RESA Directors:
The Georgia Department of Education is hosting a webinar provided by the Georgia Department of Human Resources and Care Solutions, Inc. entitled Mandated Reporter Training for Educators on Wednesday, January 7, 2015, from 3:30pm to 4:30pm.
Jeffrey Brown, Director of the Child Protective Services (CPS) Intake Communications Center, in conjunction with Erica Goldthorp, Senior Associate for Care Solutions, Inc., will lead the webinar and answer questions. The webinar will demonstrate the ways an individual can report suspected child abuse and neglect to the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, including what happens once a report has been made, what kind of follow-up the reporter can expect, and how to access a free training course on mandated reporting requirements written specifically for employees, volunteers, and contractors of Georgia public schools.
Please register for the Mandated Reporter Training for Educators webinar scheduled for January 7, 2015, 3:30 PM EST at:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. If you have any problems registering for the webinar, please contact Allan Meyer at ameyer@doe.k12.ga.us . If you have questions about the training, please contact Marilyn Watson at mawatson@doe.k12.ga.us .
Garry
Garry W. McGiboney, Ph.D.
Deputy Superintendent
External Affairs
Georgia Department of Education
2053 Twin Towers East
205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
gmcgiboney@doe.k12.ga.us
404-656-0619
School Counselors
Contact: Dr. Myrel Seigler (mseigler@doe.k12.ga.us)
Special Opportunity:
In partnership with the Georgia School Counselors Association (GSCA), the DOE has been working on the development of a counselor performance evaluation instrument. With the development of the Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES) and the Leader Keys Effectiveness System (LKES), the DOE and GSCA recognized the need for a counselor instrument since no unified counselor evaluation instrument exists statewide and certified counselors need an appropriate evaluation tool.
The Counselor Keys Effectiveness System (CKES) was aligned as closely as possible with the new teacher evaluation instrument (TKES) in its design, making it easy to follow and understand. However, this instrument does not require the same level of observation and type of data submission to the DOE as TKES.
While the DOE is not currently mandating the use of CKES, we are offering this instrument as a state document for districts to pilot in the 2014-2015 academic year. We encourage and highly recommend that districts utilize this instrument, especially if you are not currently using an appropriate counselor evaluation instrument.
If you are interested in piloting this instrument in your district during the 2014-2015 academic year, please contact CKES@ for more information. Additionally, there will be a break-out session at GAEL on Monday, July 14 if you would like the opportunity to preview the instrument and receive additional information.
Resources from the College Access Challenge Grant:
Greetings,
I hope the summer is treating you kindly and that you are getting ready for 2014-15 CACG activities.
We are excited to announce the launch of our new website for Georgia College Access Courses (GCAC). The website provides an overview of CACG, GCAC content and registration link as well as resources for counselors. Visit us at .
Opportunity:
Endevvr works for students who are looking to counselors to direct them to prestigious programs that will advance their futures as entrepreneurs. We know how influential counselors can be in finding summer programs and helping students to advance themselves personally and professionally, and Endevvr wants the counselors in Georgia to know of this opportunity for student entrepreneurs. We will provide the top-tier business professionals, professors and entrepreneurs as mentors and trainers if your schools can help provide the students ready to work collaboratively on developing their business instincts into startup companies.
On behalf of these entrepreneurs, we are looking to find a publication through which we can distribute our press release to bring students to their potential. The first step is to spread the information of this opportunity, and any avenue through which we can distribute the attached release will be instrumental in our mutual goal of giving students the best opportunities that we can. Please take a look at our release to see how Endevvr can help advance the careers of Georgia's students.
As a program specialist for guidance counselors and counselors for Georgia's Department of Education, we hope that you can help us to find a place online or in counselor and teacher publications to tell of this student opportunity. Thank you for your time, and we look forward to hearing from you.
Kimberly Yates
Manager of Public Relations, Endevvr
kimberly@
336.337.5214
Special Announcement: Governor Nathan Deal formed a task force to review the four current dual enrollment programs. The charge to the task force was to determine how the dual enrollment process could be streamlined for student. The task force met over the past several months and has completed its work. We will make you aware of any changes as a result of the task force’s recommendations.
REMINDER: By April 1st, all students in grades 8 through 11 should be provided information regarding Dual Enrollment/Credit opportunities. Please check your school’s procedure for ensuring compliance with this legislation.
Dual Enrollment Update:
The links below will connect you to a page that has the new spring, 2014 Dual Enrollment Course Credit Directory. This should be used for advising students for the upcoming semester for Dual Enrollment opportunities in Technical Colleges and Schools of Georgia. The new courses that have been added since this current fall that will be used for the spring, 2014 are highlighted in yellow.
or
If you have questions about Dual Enrollment, please contact Gary Mealer at gmealer@doe.k12.ga.us
REMINDER: HOPE requirement changes take effect for students graduating on or after May 1, 2015. Visit the following site for more information:
School Counselors Online Professional Learning Opportunities
School Counselor Professional Learning Online Modules are being offered through the University System of Georgia’s College Access Challenge Grant. The modules are designed specifically for certified middle grade and high school counselors to improve effectiveness in preparing students for college and careers. Complete registration information may be found online:
Each of the four (4) modules is designed as eight one-week sessions that require an average of five (5) hours per week to complete. Participants who complete a module will earn four (4) PLUs.
Topics covered include:
Module 1: Building a College-Going Culture for All Students; Module 2: College, Career, and Academic Planning; Module 3: Financial Aid and College Applications; and the NEW Spring 2013 Module 4: College and Career Counseling in the Middle Grades.
NOTE: An investment of $100/module is refundable upon completion of the module. Contact Ava Baker at CCTI@usg.edu.
Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS)
Contact: Hubert Bennett (hbennett@doe.k12.ga.us)
The Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) is designed to help districts, schools, and teachers make informed, data-driven decisions to improve student learning. SLDS is a free application that is accessed via a link in the district’s Student Information System (SIS). It provides districts, schools, and teachers with access to historical data, including Assessments, Attendance, Enrollment, Courses, and Grades beginning with the 2006-2007 school year.
Using Georgia's SLDS helps educators:
• Make more informed (data-driven) decisions designed to improve student learning.
• Identify students' academic strengths and weaknesses.
• Increase student achievement and close achievement gaps.
• Identify and address potential recurring impediments to student learning, e.g., problems with attendance or difficulty in mastering prerequisite knowledge or skills, before they negatively affect student success.
• Quickly create targeted differentiation groups and cohorts.
For help with SLDS and/or to request free face-to-face SLDS training for your school or district, please visit this page:
Instructional Improvement System (IIS)
Contact: Carol Moore-McLeod (cmoore@doe.k12.ga.us)
Update: The IIS Data Analysis Tool is now available to all School-level SLDS users!
The Instructional Improvement System (IIS) Data Analysis Tool is an application that provides school-level and district-level users in Georgia LEAs with the ability to create customized reports using the assessment, attendance, and student growth model data that is available in the SLDS tunnel. The IIS Data Analysis Tool also allows users to collaborate and share the reports that they have created with other users in the school or district.
Visit the following page for more information and to request training:
Teacher Resource Link (TRL)
Contact: Angela Baker (anbaker@doe.k12.ga.us)
TRL has refined over 5000 resources in order to align better with standards. In addition, over 2000 resources have been added. Now is a great time to start looking at the student data in SLDS, locating resources for students, and saving resources into folders for future use.
Don’t forget to rate the resources within TRL after you use them with your class! This helps other TRL users when planning.
Some new features in TRL:
1. Addition of the Report Issue Link–this allows the user to report issues such as standards alignment, insufficient information (missing tags), or broken link.
2. New! And Updated! Resource identification–New resources have been added within the last 30 days. Updated resources have been edited within the last 30 days.
3. Addition of the Course Tab–Georgia Virtual School Course Modules are now available within this tab.
To Suggest a Resource for TRL:
Additional Support
TRL Learning Tutorials
TRL User Guide
For more information
SLDS and TRL training
STRIVING READERS GRANT: LITERACY
Contact: Julie Morrill, Program Manager Striving Reader Literacy Grant
jmorrill@doe.k12.ga.us (404) 425-2975 or (706) 473-3159
Joshua A. Todd, Program Specialist, Grades 6-12
Striving Reader Literacy Grant - jtodd@doe.k12.ga.us (404) 823-4901
The Georgia Striving Reader project is pleased to offer a three differentiation institute opportunities designed especially for elementary teachers, coaches and leaders. The registration cost for each Institute is 150.00 per teacher which includes: working breakfast, lunch, all materials. Lodging is additional and booked directly through each venue.
This is an opportunity to network with colleagues who are current recipients of Striving Reader funding and are implementing their school literacy plans.
Below are links to the registration forms for each of the three Differentiation Institutes being held In January. The institutes are limited to 200 participants at each venue. You are welcome to send a team to each. Registration is first come first serve. You will book lodging separately. All of the information is spelled out on the form. Once submitted, the participant will receive an email that can serve as an invoice to be submitted to your book keeper. Should they experience a problem registering, ask them to email me to research to be sure they are on the list.
Georgia Striving Reader Elementary Differentiation Institute #1 January 9-10, 2015 Brasstown Valley Resort
Georgia Striving Reader Elementary Differentiation Institute #2 January 16-17, 2015 Lake Blackshear Resort
Georgia Striving Reader Elementary Differentiation Institute #3 January 23-24 Unicoi State Park and Lodge
Julie Morrill
Striving Reader/Literacy Program Manager
Georgia Department of Education
1758 Twin Towers East 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive
Atlanta, GA 30334
404-425-2975
706-473-3159
jmorrill@doe.k12.ga.us
Announcements
NEXT Monthly Update Webinar is Tentatively Scheduled For:
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
9:00 AM
Parent Engagement Program
Contact: Nathan Schult, Program Manager (nschult@doe.k12.ga.us) 404-463-1956
Georgia Family-Friendly Partnership School Finalists
The Georgia Department of Education launched the Georgia Family-Friendly Partnership initiative in the summer of 2010 to assist Title I schools, families, and communities in working together to create welcoming environments that lead to increased student achievement. A welcoming environment increases family engagement, which in turn, helps students earn better grades, graduate from high school and enroll in post-secondary education. This award takes the initiative a step further by recognizing Title I schools that have gone above and beyond to create an environment where families and community members feel they belong and now play an important role in supporting their school’s student success.
This year, it was extremely difficult to choose a small number of finalists from a very large pool of outstanding schools who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to fostering welcoming environments that encourage families to become active partners in improving student achievement and success. It is clear that we have many wonderful schools throughout our state who are worthy of receiving this award. The following schools have been selected as finalists for the 2015 Family-Friendly Partnership School award.
Bear Creek Middle School (Barrow County)
Campbell Elementary School (Fulton County)
Centerville Elementary School (Houston County)
Chestatee Elementary School (Forsyth County)
Clinch County Middle School (Clinch County)
Harris Elementary School (Gwinnett County)
Moore Middle School (Gwinnett County)
Teasley Middle School (Cherokee County)
Ware County High School (Ware County)
After comprehensive visits are completed at each finalist school, the winning schools will be announced in April. All finalist schools should celebrate this recognition and be proud of their accomplishments in the field of family engagement.
Academic Parent-Teacher Teams
The focus of parental involvement requirements under Title I is to improve the academic achievement of the lowest performing students. Following this path, the state is working with WestEd to study the use and impact of Academic Parent-Teacher Teams (APTT) on student achievement. This past spring, ten school districts (focusing on one Title I school in each of the districts) received specialized training on APTT and are implementing APTT this school year in that one school. Towards the end of the upcoming school year, these districts will build capacity by training at least one other school in the district on the implementation of APTT. Therefore, the districts will have implemented APTT in at least two schools by the end of 2015-2016 with the idea of eventually having each Title I school in the district implement this promising practice. The GaDOE along with WestEd is working closely with these school districts over the next two years to ensure fidelity of the APTT model. As data becomes available, we will also share these school districts’ APTT experiences with all school districts across Georgia.
The APTT model supplements the efforts of traditional parent conferences with whole-class meetings where parents learn exactly where their child stands in comparison to academic standards, where their child needs to be by the end of the school year, and how they can help support their child’s learning outside of the classroom. Parents become committed partners in working alongside the teacher to help their child achieve in specific academic achievement goal areas. Furthermore, APTT is recognized as a high-impact strategy by US ED, helping schools tailor their dual-capacity building efforts as well as meet much of Title I Parental Involvement compliance regulations. For more information about APTT, we encourage you to learn more at:
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